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Cultural appropriation and day-to-day life


Nephil Thief

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"Redskin" is a racial slur.

Racial slurs are bad.

The name and mascot of the Washington Redskins are, like, cultural appropration!

Therefore, cultural appropriation is bad.

 

I donno. Seems like

"Redskin" is a racial slur.

Racial slurs are bad.

The name and mascot of the Washington Redskins are easily considered an inappropriate stereotype / degradation in the current era.

They should, perhaps, reconsider using those things as their trademark.

 

 

Again illustrating my point that the phrase "cultural appropriation" is terminally unclear and needs to be replaced with something that more accurately captures the phenomenon. The quoted post should not be possible. The only reason it's possible for someone to say this is that the poster doesn't understand what the phrase means. We can blame the poster, but frankly, I blame the phrase.

I will now return to letting Kelandon make all the good points.

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I don't have a lot to add, mostly just more contextual analysis to complicate matters further.

 

The historical context out of which cultural appropriation emerges is two-fold: decolonization and neoliberalism. First, we have, post-WW2, global efforts that have dismantled formal imperial power structures almost completely. Apart from huge liberation projects in Asia and Africa, these ideological schemes have been transplanted to other colonized populations. Thus, African-Americans, etc. are attempting decolonization efforts to liberate themselves. I think this is where the impetus for preventing cultural appropriation comes from, in large part.

 

The other side of the coin is neoliberalism. Intellectual property has been around as a tool for a long time, of course, but aspects of global capitalism give it a new flavor. First, international intellectual property rights are a huge site of dispute between various powers, such as the United States and the People's Republic of China. How these questions will be resolved is uncertain. Second, Western societies (and globally, to a lesser extent) are increasingly atomized. Individuals are considered more and more to be the most basic unit of society, which means that individuals are seen as owning property rather than collectives. This is far from total, obviously, but it's a trend. Third, there is a proliferation of information globally. The advent of the Internet and its increasing accessibility means that folks can be exposed to ideas from everywhere at any time. How we navigate these ideas and attribute ownership in the digital commons is also far from determined.

 

So, we have various marginalized communities articulating a desire for liberation and reclamation through the vocabulary of neoliberal capitalism. This vocabulary, however, is already problematized by contested negotiations over the values that shape the discourse of intellectual property. These negotiations are everywhere, from the diplomatic tables between countries to the micropolitical level of art blogs trying to keep their work. Cultural appropriation is especially challenged by the growing atomization of society, which challenges the very rights of collective entities to make claims at all.

 

As I see it, the question for communities trying to liberate, reclaim, and decolonize, is this: can neoliberal capitalist ideas be co-opted to challenge hegemonic culture? Or rather, can the master's tools dismantle the master's house?

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@Goldengirl: that's an interesting thought, and I'll have to mull it over a while.

 

A few things on this though

 

The historical context out of which cultural appropriation emerges is two-fold: decolonization and neoliberalism. First, we have, post-WW2, global efforts that have dismantled formal imperial power structures almost completely. Apart from huge liberation projects in Asia and Africa, these ideological schemes have been transplanted to other colonized populations. Thus, African-Americans, etc. are attempting decolonization efforts to liberate themselves. I think this is where the impetus for preventing cultural appropriation comes from, in large part.

 

I think the key word in the first few sentences is "formal." Those power structures may be formally defunct, but their continued influence is huge. A lot of the old policies are basically still there in force, just more or less unofficially.

 

(I may be misunderstanding you there, though.)

 

The other thing is that... well, I'm not very knowledgeable about international politics, to say the very least. But I think some of the liberation projects have not worked so well. Zimbabwe, for instance, is still a brutal dictatorship.

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I think the key word in the first few sentences is "formal." Those power structures may be formally defunct, but their continued influence is huge. A lot of the old policies are basically still there in force, just more or less unofficially.

 

(I may be misunderstanding you there, though.)

 

This is exactly part of it. The formal power structures aren't there anymore. Theoretically, all nations are equal. In reality, of course, the old imperial powers still have a lot of power, while the former colonies are still getting the short end of the stick. Cultural appropriation actually assumes that this is the case. The argument that cultural appropriation is bad has two foundations. First, that it's disrespectful. This holds most for religious symbolism being co-opted in order to be 'trendy.' Second, that it is a continuation of colonial power relations through other means. This second claim is the more interesting one to me.

 

The other thing is that... well, I'm not very knowledgeable about international politics, to say the very least. But I think some of the liberation projects have not worked so well. Zimbabwe, for instance, is still a brutal dictatorship.

 

Absolutely. It's a process, and will continue to be. Hopefully it goes well for Zimbabwe and the rest of the world.

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"Redskin" is a racial slur.

Racial slurs are bad.

The name and mascot of the Washington Redskins are, like, cultural appropration!

Therefore, cultural appropriation is bad.

Except that this somewhat freewheeling thread on race and culture has multiple components. "Redskins" isn't cultural appropriation. It's just a racial slur.

 

—Alorael, who also really doesn't appreciate the Godwinning. This thread was working out fine, thanks.

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This is exactly part of it. The formal power structures aren't there anymore. Theoretically, all nations are equal. In reality, of course, the old imperial powers still have a lot of power, while the former colonies are still getting the short end of the stick. Cultural appropriation actually assumes that this is the case. The argument that cultural appropriation is bad has two foundations. First, that it's disrespectful. This holds most for religious symbolism being co-opted in order to be 'trendy.' Second, that it is a continuation of colonial power relations through other means. This second claim is the more interesting one to me.

 

Ah, got it. I'm thinking those two might be related though - casual disrespect can be a manifestation of political power. Probably all the more so when those being disrespectful don't normally consider it such. (I can think of a lot of day-to-day examples of this.)

 

Absolutely. It's a process, and will continue to be. Hopefully it goes well for Zimbabwe and the rest of the world.

 

As do I... And you raise a good point there. South Korea was once a dictatorship, too.

 

OTOH, I feel that it's perilous to forget that the ghosts of imperialism aren't the only force at work.

 

Might be my privilege talking though. I sometimes have to remind myself that the stability of my life, here in the US, is largely a result of my background; peace is a privilege here. I'd just rather that it became a right; as opposed to making everyone's life equally filled with violence.

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